Analysis of steroid hormones in effluents of wastewater treatment plants by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This paper presents the development of an analytical procedure for the determination of two sexual steroid hormones: 17beta-estradiol and estrone, and the synthetic contraceptive estrogen, 17alpha-ethynylestradiol in effluents of wastewater treatment plants. Samples are extracted via solid-phase extraction using C18 cartridges. Extracts in ethyl acetate are then purified with a liquid-liquid separation with aqueous sodium chloride, then with a clean-up on a Florisil cartridge. Steroids are analyzed using an LC-MS-MS ion trap system. Internal quantification with the corresponding deuterated steroids leads to limits of quantification at 5 ng/l for estrone and 10 ng/l for estradiol and ethynylestradiol. In mineral spiked water, recoveries are 91% for 17beta-estradiol, 97% for estrone and 87% for 17alpha-ethynylestradiol and RSDs are 15% for 17beta-estradiol, 11% for estrone and 23% for 17alpha-ethynylestradiol.